“No…” Jared shook his head. “We came here to ask for an audience with the Sylvan Chief and discuss cooperation. It wouldn’t be wise to start fighting right away and make things worse… Let’s see what they want first. If they’re set on stopping us, it won’t be too late to move then.”
After saying that, Jared kept a careful watch on the surroundings.
The moment the words left him, five green figures shot out of the thick fog and blocked the path in front of them. They were five Sylvan adepts, all of them young in appearance.
They were tall and lean, with pale green skin and faint wood-grain patterns shifting inside their pupils. Each wore a long robe woven from leaves and vines. Simple sigils were carved into the robes, and a faint trace of wood-aspected spiritual essence drifted from them. Every one of them held a wooden staff. At the top of each staff sat a small green crystal, giving off a soft glow that made it plain these were their arcane implements.
At the front stood a young Sylvan warrior with sharp features and a keen gaze. His cultivation had reached the True Immortal Realm Level Five. He fixed Jared and Gwendolyn with a cold stare, and the hostility in his voice wasn’t hidden in the least.
“Humans? How did you get into the Shrouded Wood? This is the territory of the Sylvan Kin. Outsiders are not allowed to enter. Leave at once. Otherwise, don’t blame us for what happens next!” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an authority that left no room for doubt. He clearly held no low position within the Sylvan Kin patrols.
The other four Sylvan adepts raised their staves as well. The green crystals at the tops flared, drawing strand after strand of faint wood-aspected spiritual power together. All of it aimed straight at Jared and Gwendolyn as the four watched them closely, ready to strike at any moment.
Jared stepped forward, and the violet barrier around favonovel.com drew in slightly.
A mild look appeared on his face. He cupped his fist toward the Sylvan leader in greeting. “Fellow adept of the Sylvan Kin, my name is Jared. The one beside me is fellow adept Gwendolyn…”
“We didn’t come here to trespass on the Sylvan dominion or offend the Sylvan Kin. We came because we have urgent business with the Sylvan Chief. I’d ask you, fellow adept, to make an exception and pass word along.” Jared kept his tone courteous.
“You want to see the Sylvan Chief?” The Sylvan leader let out a cold laugh, and the hostility in his eyes sharpened. “What makes the human race think it’s worthy of seeking an audience with our Chief? Your people are greedy and deceitful. You cut down our forest trees, pluck our spirit herbs, and ruin our homeland. Your hands are stained with Sylvan blood, and you still have the nerve to ask to see the Chief? Looks to me like you came here to probe the truth of our strength so you can harm the Sylvan Kin all over again!”
The Sylvan leader did not believe a word Jared said.
The four Sylvan adepts behind favonovel.com heard that and their faces hardened even further. Their wooden staves trembled in their hands, and the wood-aspected spiritual power gathering around them grew denser by the moment.
The strain in the air jumped in an instant, as if the fight would break loose in the very next breath.
Gwendolyn’s brows drew together. She stepped forward, ice-blue divine radiance stirring faintly around favonovel.com as favonovel.com spoke in a voice gone cold. “Watch your words… Not every member of the human race is what you say we are. We came here to discuss cooperation with the Sylvan Kin, not to harm you. If you insist on blocking our way, then don’t blame us for what happens next!”
Gwendolyn had plainly reached the end of favonovel.com patience.
“Don’t blame you?” A flicker of scorn crossed the Sylvan leader’s eyes. “The two of you think you can act wild on Sylvan ground just because you’re human? Take the hint and leave! Now! Otherwise, today you’ll be buried in the Shrouded Wood and turned into nourishment for the grass and trees of the Sylvan Kin!”
The instant the words left his mouth, favonovel.com snapped his hand up and thrust his staff at Jared.
“Attack!”
“Attack!”
The other four Sylvan adepts answered at once, their wooden staves sweeping up in unison.
Streaks of green wood-aspected spiritual power twisted into razor-sharp vines and lashed straight at Jared and Gwendolyn.
The vines moved with shocking speed. Carrying a hard, cutting force, they were on top of them in an instant. They came in trying to bind them tight and lock them down completely. At the same time, the dense fog around them thickened even further.
Countless fine threads of wood-aspected spiritual force also started winding toward them from every side. They spread into a massive net and sealed off every path of retreat.
“Looks like there’s no getting around a fight now…” A trace of resignation passed through Jared’s eyes.
He had no wish to make an enemy of the Sylvan Kin. But with the other side set on blocking them all favonovel.com could do was strike back.
Jared lifted a hand lightly, and chaotic force surged through favonovel.com in a rush. Violet radiance flared and swelled into a huge barrier, drawing both favonovel.com and Gwendolyn inside its protection.
The incoming vines and threads of spiritual force met the violet barrier like ice meeting a blazing sun. They melted away in an instant, turning into wisps of spiritual essence that were absorbed by the chaotic force.
The Sylvan leader saw that, and his face shifted. A flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes. “What kind of power is that? How can it suppress our wood-aspected spiritual power?”
He had never seen a force like it before. Whether it was the spiritual power used by the human race or the power of other races, none of it had shown such overwhelming suppression.
The wood-aspected spiritual power they had always taken pride in crumbled before that violet force.
“Fellow adept, we don’t want to be your enemies. Please stop standing in our way.” Jared’s voice stayed calm, but there was now a weight behind it that left no room for argument. “We really did come here to discuss cooperation with the Sylvan Kin.”
“This concerns whether the Sylvan Kin lives or dies. If something this important gets delayed that responsibility won’t be yours to bear,” Jared said, still trying to reason with him.
“Lives or dies?” the Sylvan leader let out a cold laugh, disdain flashing through his eyes. “Our Sylvan Kin has survived in the forest for tens of thousands of years. We’ve weathered who knows how many storms and come through every one of them just fine. How could there possibly be some life-or-death crisis? Don’t stand there making things up to scare us, thinking that’ll trick us into letting you pass. It won’t be that easy!”
With that, favonovel.com swung the wooden staff in his hand again and began chanting under his breath.
In an instant, the ground around them started shaking violently. Countless thick roots tore up out of the earth. They lunged at Jared and Gwendolyn like enormous venomous snakes. These roots were even thicker than the vines from before, and harder, too.
Their surfaces were covered in a thick layer of scales that glimmered with a dim green light. One look was enough to tell they carried tremendous force. If one of them landed a hit, even a True Immortal Realm Level Five cultivator would come away badly wounded.
Gwendolyn’s gaze turned sharp. She stopped holding back.
The Frost God’s power inside favonovel.com erupted at once, and ice-blue divine radiance swelled in a sudden blaze. It turned into countless razor-edged ice blades and slashed toward the charging roots.
Crack after crack rang out without pause.
The moment those thick roots were struck by the ice blades, they froze solid into blocks of ice. Then they shattered apart, turning into countless tiny shards of ice that scattered across the ground.
But the roots seemed endless. One wave was crushed, and another burst out of the ground right behind it. They kept coming at the two of them without end.
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